1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scroll compressor, and more particularly, to a fixed scroll of a scroll compressor which is capable of preventing gaseous refrigerant, that is heated in the compressor, from being introduced into a compression chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating important parts of a conventional scroll compressor. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a fixed scroll of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the fixed scroll of FIG. 2.
Arrows shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 indicate a flow direction of gaseous refrigerant.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the conventional scroll compressor includes a shell 100 defining a sealed space therein and provided with a suction pipe 101 and a discharge pipe 102, a compression unit 200 arranged in an upper portion of the shell 100 and adapted to compress gaseous refrigerant, and a crankshaft 300 adapted to drive the compression unit 200 when it is rotated by a drive unit.
The compression unit 200 includes an orbiting scroll 201 arranged on an upper surface of a main frame 400 in the shell 100 while being coupled to an upper end of the crankshaft 300, and a fixed scroll 202 arranged on the upper surface of the main frame 400 to be engaged with the orbiting scroll 201 such that a compression chamber is defined between the scrolls 201 and 202. With this configuration, when the orbiting scroll 201 performs an orbiting motion in accordance with rotation of the crankshaft 300, gaseous refrigerant is introduced into the compression chamber to thereby be compressed therein.
The fixed scroll 202 includes a scroll body 203 provided, at a lower surface thereof, with an open involuted wrap 203a to define a compression chamber 203b therein. The fixed scroll 202 further includes a flange portion 204 formed along an outer circumference of the scroll body 203, and a plurality of mounting legs 205 formed at a lower surface of the flange portion 204 around the wrap 203a to be mounted on the upper surface of the main frame 400.
In the scroll compressor configured as stated above, as the refrigerant, that is introduced into the shell 100 via the suction pipe 101, strikes a suction baffle 401 formed at one side of the main frame 400, part of the gaseous refrigerant is directed upward toward the compression unit 200, and the remaining part of the refrigerant is directed downward to be circulated inside the shell 100.
The part of the gaseous refrigerant, upwardly guided against the suction baffle 401, is circulated between the mounting legs 205 underneath a lower surface of the flange portion 204 to thereby be introduced into the compression chamber 203b through a tip end of the wrap 203a. 
The remaining part of the gaseous refrigerant, downwardly guided against the suction baffle 401, is heated while being circulated inside the shell 100. After that, the heated gaseous refrigerant is directed upward to thereby be circulated between the mounting legs 205 underneath the lower surface of the flange portion 204 as designated by arrows in FIG. 2. In this way, the heated gaseous refrigerant is finally introduced into the compression chamber 203b through the tip end of the wrap 203a 
A problem of the conventional scroll compressor configured as stated above is that suctioned gaseous refrigerant cannot be directly introduced into the compression chamber because it is guided to strikes the lower surface of the flange portion by the suction baffle to thereby be circulated between the mounting legs. Another problem of the conventional scroll compressor is that heated gaseous refrigerant is introduced into the compression chamber through the tip end of the wrap after being circulated between the mounting legs underneath the lower portion of the flange portion. Introduction of the heated gaseous refrigerant considerably degrades the volumetric efficiency of the compressor, resulting in deterioration in the overall performance of the compressor.
In the case of the gaseous refrigerant, which is circulated in the compressor and then is introduced into the compression chamber, furthermore, it contains a large amount of oil that is scattered in a compression unit, resulting in an increase in the amount of oil discharged from the compressor.